Such guiding slideways are provided not only to perform a guiding function which stems from their very definition, but also to provide sealing between the moving surfaces against external agents, in particular rain, but also noise, and they are also intended to prevent any kind of blade or hook or bent metal wire or other tool for forcing an entry passing round the sides or the top of a window closing a window opening in a car door, and regardless of how thin the tool may be.
A large number of guiding slideways for vehicle windows have been proposed in the prior art in order to solve the combined problem of providing the necessary sealing between the moving surface and its line of contact with the frame or chassis in which it is mounted, while nevertheless allowing the moving surface to slide suitably relative to said frame, when so required. Most prior embodiments, see French Pat. No. FR-A-2 551 826 or German Pat. No. DE-A-1 955 753, for example, essentially comprise two sealing lips carried by a channel section bar made of a material which is harder than the lips, with the lips bearing against respective faces of the window and being coated where they come into contact with the window with a coating that facilitates window sliding, and a similar coating is preferably also disposed over the bottom surface of the slideway where it may come into contact with the edge of the moving surface, which moving surface is referred to below as being a "window" in order to simplify the description even though it should be understood that the invention is not limited to that particular example.
Although the frames on which such slideways have been mounted have included shaped portions at their ends in which the shaped portions of the slideway can be received, with said shapes corresponding appropriately, motor vehicle manufacturers are tending to omit such shaped portions at the ends of frames which are now tending to be merely in the form of channel sections whose flanges terminate with sharp edges. When a slideway is fixed in a frame or chassis by gluing or by force-fitting that takes advantage of the slideway's own resilience, the operation of installing the slideway is relatively lengthy, and above all it is difficult insofar as any installation which is badly done may subsequently lead to the slideway being bodily removed from the frame when the window slides.
A particular object of the present invention is to provide a guiding slideway which ensures excellent sealing, which is extremely easy to install, and which is completely protected against any danger of moving or being removed when the window slides.